The UK will never need conscription, it’s not how it does it. Other countries have conscription but not as a new thing. They have had it for a long time. The Nordic countries have it. The countries closest to Russia tend to have it.
It doesn’t mean they are planning a war. They have it to PREVENT a war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription
Another list here
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/military-service-age-and-obligation/
The UK doesn’t have conscription because it relies on people who want to join the army. Those tend to make better soldiers naturally. The UK has only had conscription in the two world wars.
But places like Finland and Norway have had conscription for a long time.
And often only a fraction of the population actually serve.
Norway, for example, has a system that in its effect is somewhat similar to the UK - that only those who are most motivated join, though everyone has to register unlike in the UK and the ones who are most motivated are required to join in Norway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Armed_Forces#Conscription
Many countries they just serve for a short period of time
Denmark for instance has subscription for 4 to 11 months.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Denmark
Mexico has a partial conscription with conscripts selected by ballot.
At the other end, in Mozambique they serve for 5 years and in North Korea females serve for 5 years and males for 8 years.
Details here:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-with-mandatory-military-service
So it is nothing new. And it does NOT mean they expect war.
The UK does engage in various military conflicts overseas. But it’s never going to be in a second Vietnam like the US did - which is when the US needed conscription for. Nor is the US.
The sorts of wars the UK is involved in require small numbers of soldiers with very high tech equipment. Also volunteers who do it as a profession. They are better soldiers usually.
The reason is that the UK and the US are now vastly superior technologically to just about any military except China and they are not going to be fighting China.
Admiral Radakin says Russia won’t even try to attack NATO and we can be incredibly confident in that
Because of how quickly the UK could get control of the air and sea and how quickly the soldiers could get there Radakin said that we can immediately block any attempt at aggression - not about regaining lost territory but just blocking the attempt as soon as it starts. He said:
.. I feel incredibly confident that that’s what NATO’s got and that’s how NATO can keep its citizens safe.
And it’s the overmatch that deters Russia. And I have never been clearer than any time in my career about the success that NATO is having in deterring Russia.
Russia does not want to fight with NATO and Russia does not want a nuclear war and we should be really confident of that.
See my:
BLOG: No, Putin CAN’T attack NATO
— it is way overmatched in the sea and air
— any attempt would be blocked immediately
You can read it here:
https://robertinventor.substack.com/p/no-putin-cant-attack-nato-it-is-way
So, as long as we stay as strong as we are - any attack would be over quickly - but it’s really about just showing our strength.
Baroness Goldie did talk about conscription in a debate in the House of Lords on December 8th, But all she did is make the observation that some European countries have done a range of measures including conscription, and wanted to know what the government plans to do.
My Lords, I echo what the Minister has been saying: the threat that we are facing is immediate. Other countries, recognising that urgency, have taken steps to engage their public through a range of measures, from conscription at one end to seeking volunteers aged 18 and over for military training—as in France and Germany—at the other end. I think what this Chamber wants to know is what imminent steps will the Government take to educate the British public now about the gravity of the situation and to put the UK on to a comparable readiness footing to these other countries.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-12-08/debates/84d490b2-066e-4133-9545-d6d9e061687b/LordsChamber
She didn’t tell the government to consider conscription, not that she had any authority if she had.
There is no way the UK does this. It would be a complete flip in the long standing approach of the UK government and NOT what Kier Starmer promised when he was elected.
It’s Rishi Sunak who had an idea verging on conscription and he lost the election. Rishi Sunak’s idea wasn’t really conscription; only a few % would have actually done anything to do with the military
Rishi Sunak talked about military service, but he was not talking about conscription just about one year of military service for about 5% of the population, only the ones keen on it / well qualified for it and 95% would do voluntary service in thins like helping the elderly every weekend for a year. This is not at all likely to happen because the conservatives are just about certain to lose and the vast majority of the UK population is opposed, but some of the core Conservative voters, especially elderly like the idea.
So the only way he would do that is to try to shore up the vote in what should be safe Conservative seats. It is the move of someone who could see he was losing and trying to limit the losses.
Even if they’d got in they would have great difficulty passing such a law as many MPs would be opposed.
And it was not the draft. It is only for people aged 18, and the military service is for only 1 person in 20 for 1 year.
19 out of 20 wouldn’t do it. But it just isn’t going to happen
UK is not considering conscription - its policy is to encourage professional fighters who want to be soldiers - other European countries had conscription since long before the Ukraine war - and Europe has plenty of soldiers to deter Russia
I wrote this a while back but still applies.
BLOG: No possibility of conscription in UK
— might expand civilian volunteer defence force but never through conscription
— Russia is extraordinarily weak
— Patrick Sanders wants to deter the remote risk of an attack if it recovers strength years later]
You can read it here: https://debunkingdoomsday.quora.com/No-possibility-of-conscription-in-UK-might-expand-civilian-volunteer-defence-force-but-never-through-conscription-Ruane
Lightly edited copy of my post here: https://ddebunked.org/d/1561-2-questions-will-the-uk-go-to-conscription-whats-happening-with-us-uk-relations-with-regards-to-trumps-comments-on-troops-in-afghanistan/5
